This course covers in the chronological order each defining step of an entrepreneurial project. It begins with very personal considerations related to getting to better know yourself better so as to decide if you are ready for the multiple challenges of entrepreneurship. It then deals with creativity in order to provide the right set of tools to find an idea with the right potential to disrupt an existing business. We then discuss how to gather a founding team, how to raise money to initiate the project, and how to deal with day to day cash management. Later in the course, we discuss the art of selling, focusing on business to business sales, and how to measure the product launch phase using cohort analysis. Later on, we discuss the challenges of HR in an entrepreneurial environment, and of recruiting at a point where nobody knows your company. We then describe very practical techniques to initiate the international development of a small company. Last, we cover the exit strategy topic.

EB

The course triggered and supported over it's duration structured reflection on my startup ideas, that's much more than I expected!

SG

Jul 04, 2019

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

pragmatic and concret with great tips to put in place asap, strategies which are more middle or long term

From the lesson

Securing the first key steps of your entrepreneurial project

Welcome to the module 2- this week, you will learn about some creativity techniques designed for entrepreneurship. You will also learn a step by step strategy to gather a founding team. Finally, you will be able to learn about the analysis of your financial strategy, so as to decide if you should raise money…or not…and how.

Taught By

Ambroise Huret

Partner at Eleven Strategy & Management

Transcript

[MUSIC] Hello and welcome back. In the previous module, we discussed your inner functioning, your choice of entrepreneurship, and your belief system. At this point, we assume first that you actually chose entrepreneurship and second, that you don’t know what your future project will be. This means that you now need to find an idea to build your company around. At this stage, it is important for me to insist on the fact that finding an idea for creating a company is not about finding the next big thing. If you absolutely want to create the next Google, then yes, I admit you need an incredible idea. But if what you want is to launch a successful company that fulfils you and makes you happy on a daily basis, then I invite you to use the "Three Questions Process" described by Tal Ben Shahar. There are basically three things you want to consider when creating your company: First, you want to remember your purpose in life: what gives you meaning, what provides you with a sense of purpose? Secondly, you also want to take into account pleasure: what gives you pleasure, what do you enjoy doing? Finally, you want to consider your strengths: What are your strengths, what are you good at? You can find an idea for your company at the intersection of those three circles. Indeed, the goal is to create something that has meaning for you when you consider the purpose of your life, that gives you pleasure, and that also leverages one of your strengths. Taking these three dimensions into account will make you much stronger and more resilient should you face one of several periods of trouble while developing your project. Now, I would like you to stop and think about your three circles: purpose, pleasure and strengths. After that, I invite you to describe each of your three circles in three words. Ask yourself these questions: What gives you meaning? What gives you pleasure? What are your strengths? There is no one standard answer for these questions. Your answers will vary because each of you has different purposes, different pleasures, and different strengths and weaknesses. At this point, the idea waiting for you at the intersection of your three circles can still be a bit vague. For instance, "a company dealing with children in the field of computing that could actually make a difference in the poorest parts of the planet". This area will be your "development zone", in which you will try to find your final idea for your company. Now, inside this "developmental zone" that you laid out, how can you find the precise idea that would be the foundation of your company? Well, the next step is to look around and ask yourself a few key questions to trigger the light bulb: Is there any way you can improve on something familiar? Have you seen anything abroad that would be useful for your life? Have you thought of a better way of delivering or producing something that already exists? Are there any gaps in the market, for instance, a product or a service that you think could make sense and that you can't find? Of course, this phase of your entrepreneurial journey is filled with market research that will help you qualify the three pillars of your business: the market, the customers, and the potential or existing competition. Whatever you find, or don't find, during this market research phase, I invite you to keep in mind some entrepreneur's lessons. Henry Ford, for instance, once said: "if I had asked the customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse". And most probably, if Steve Jobs had asked the customers if they wanted an iPhone four times bigger, with which you can't make a phone call, he probably would not have released the iPad. And the newer your product will be, the more important your marketing will be, because as French designer Yves Saint Laurent said: "Marketing is giving people things they never knew they wanted". Now, let's take some time to listen to our guests speak about how they found their idea. Our guests' personal experience could be a reference for you when you are facing the same situation. In the next video, we'll discuss how to use the design thinking methodology to make your product or service as good as it can be. [MUSIC]

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